About first ladies elizabethmonroe
ABOUT THE WHITE HOUSE * FIRST LADIES OUR FIRST LADIES: 18th Century about_first_ladies_marthawashington Martha Washington about_first_ladies_abigailadams Abigail Adams 19th Century about_first_ladies_marthajefferson Martha Jefferson about_first_ladies_dolleymadison Dolley Madison about_first_ladies_elizabethmonroe Elizabeth Monroe about_first_ladies_louisaadams Louisa Adams about_first_ladies_racheljackson Rachel Jackson about_first_ladies_hannahvanburen Hannah Van Buren about_first_ladies_annaharrison Anna Harrison about_first_ladies_letitiatyler Letitia Tyler about_first_ladies_juliatyler Julia Tyler about_first_ladies_sarahpolk Sarah Polk about_first_ladies_margarettaylor Margaret Taylor about_first_ladies_abigailfillmore Abigail Fillmore about_first_ladies_janepierce Jane Pierce about_first_ladies_harrietlane Harriet Lane about_first_ladies_marylincoln Mary Lincoln about_first_ladies_elizajohnson Eliza Johnson about_first_ladies_juliagrant Julia Grant about_first_ladies_lucyhayes Lucy Hayes about_first_ladies_lucretiagarfield Lucretia Garfield about_first_ladies_ellenarthur Ellen Arthur about_first_ladies_francescleveland Frances Cleveland about_first_ladies_carolineharrison Caroline Harrison about_first_ladies_francescleveland Frances Cleveland about_first_ladies_idamckinley Ida McKinley 20th Century about_first_ladies_edithroosevelt Edith Roosevelt about_first_ladies_helentaft Helen Taft about_first_ladies_ellenwilson Ellen Wilson about_first_ladies_edithwilson Edith Wilson about_first_ladies_florenceharding Florence Harding about_first_ladies_gracecoolidge Grace Coolidge about_first_ladies_louhoover Lou Hoover about_first_ladies_eleanorroosevelt Eleanor Roosevelt about_first_ladies_besstruman Elizabeth Truman about_first_ladies_mamieeisenhower Mamie Eisenhower about_first_ladies_jacquelinekennedy Jacqueline Kennedy about_first_ladies_ladybirdjohnson Claudia Johnson about_first_ladies_patnixon Patricia Nixon about_first_ladies_bettyford Elizabeth Ford about_first_ladies_rosalynncarter Rosalynn Carter about_first_ladies_nancyreagan Nancy Reagan about_first_ladies_barbarabush Barbara Bush about_first_ladies_hillaryclinton Hillary Clinton 21st Century about_first_ladies_laurabush Laura Bush administration_michelle_obama Michelle Obama ELIZABETH KORTRIGHT MONROE b.1768 -- d.1830 Romance glints from the little that is known about Elizabeth Kortright's early life. She was born in New York City in 1768, daughter of an old New York family. Her father, Lawrence, had served the Crown by privateering during the French and Indian War and made a fortune. He took no active part in the War of Independence; and James Monroe wrote to his friend Thomas Jefferson in Paris in 1786 that he had married the daughter of a gentleman, "injured in his fortunes" by the Revolution. Strange choice, perhaps, for a patriot veteran with political ambitions and little money of his own; but Elizabeth was beautiful, and love was decisive. They were married in February 1786, when the bride was not yet 18. The young couple planned to live in Fredericksburg, Virginia, where Monroe began his practice of law. His political career, however, kept them on the move as the family increased by two daughters and a son who died in infancy. In 1794, Elizabeth Monroe accompanied her husband to France when President Washington appointed him United States Minister. Arriving in Paris in the midst of the French Revolution, she took a dramatic part in saving Lafayette's wife, imprisoned and expecting death on the guillotine. With only her servants in her carriage, the American Minister's wife went to the prison and asked to see Madame Lafayette. Soon after this hint of American interest, the prisoner was set free. The Monroes became very popular in France, where the diplomat's lady received the affectionate name of la belle Americaine. For 17 years Monroe, his wife at his side, alternated between foreign missions and service as governor or legislator of Virginia. They made the plantation of Oak Hill their home after he inherited it from an uncle, and appeared on the Washington scene in 1811 when he became Madison's Secretary of State. Elizabeth Monroe was an accomplished hostess when her husband took the Presidential oath in 1817. Through much of the administration, however, she was in poor health and curtailed her activities. Wives of the diplomatic corps and other dignitaries took it amiss when she decided to pay no calls--an arduous social duty in a city of widely scattered dwellings and unpaved streets. Moreover, she and her daughter Eliza changed White House customs to create the formal atmosphere of European courts. Even the White House wedding of her daughter Maria was private, in "the New York style" rather than the expansive Virginia social style made popular by Dolley Madison. A guest at the Monroes' last levee, on New Year's Day in 1825, described the First Lady as "regal-looking" and noted details of interest: "Her dress was superb black velvet; neck and arms bare and beautifully formed; her hair in puffs and dressed high on the head and ornamented with white ostrich plumes; around her neck an elegant pearl necklace. Though no longer young, she is still a very handsome woman." In retirement at Oak Hill, Elizabeth Monroe died on September 23, 1830; and family tradition says that her husband burned the letters of their life together. MD5: 96b90072bb11a982a9c7eaaecd52924c Original URL: http://whitehouse.gov/about/first_ladies/elizabethmonroe/